Searchlight Minerals Corp. (SRCH)

[gitreal]

Good analysis, but in going back to the sources I have referenced before, most of the ore smelted in Clarkdale was direct smelting ore. Some of the ore, apparently less than 10%, was from concentrates. The 20 million tons of slag would also be evidence for the fact they did direct smelting (if it had been concentrates, you would never have ended up with a pile that big, right?).

So, I'll stick with my lower gold estimate - non detect to 0.005 oz/ton. Of course, even at your estimate of 0.056 oz/ton, that is still a tenth of what SRCH is claiming!

[bipro]

Gitreal,

I know you have done the research and are pretty good at evaluating the historical records.

What did the original concentrating process at Clarkdale consist of? I worked a few years in the smelters at Playas and Morenci and, therefore, I would assume that the ore was first treated with floatation milling and then the floatation concentrates were smelted.

Under this assumption, if the original ore averaged .035 opt au, and the floatation recovered 80% and the concentration ratio was 20/1, then the concentrates would run 0.56 opt. Then the slag from the smelting process would represent about 80% of the concentrates fed to the furnaces and contain maybe as much as 10% of the gold or possibly as much as 0.056 opt.

Is this a reasonable scenario?

[gitreal]

You're too generous, rbtree! The original ores smelted in Clarkdale generally ran between 0.02 and 0.05 oz/ton gold, and to think that the slag now has ten times that amount of gold (as claimed by SRCH) - impossible. I would bet the slag runs between non-detect and 0.010 oz/ton gold. But we'll never know what the actual numbers are until this thing comes crashing down - SRCH has never released any original reports.

You are right - SRCH is an elaborate and long-running con, set up by folks (some of whom are still involved, by the way) that had decades of experience perfecting their craft.

[rbtree]

Actually, it's easy to figure out.....it's naught but one elaborate and long running con...read scam......the chances of them ever coming up with a viable process to get any amount of gold beyond, oh, say .02 opt from that slag, are remote, infinitesimal even.

[CosmicRambler]

Be careful with the fun there Mydog.

I used to own it. Sold because I saw dilution coming, plus whatever will happen ain't going to be quick.

Basically I think there is Gold in the pile but these birds will never get much of it. The money they have on hand is not enough to even get them into production. First production at very best could only be something in the 200 TPD range thru put, questionable economics. To get to production is a lot longer road and requires a lot more money, dilution is the name of the game by all means possible. To ramp up to something serious requires well into the 100's of millions more.

So this is only good for a buyout at some point with the real moving by others IMHO. Provided they can convince some cash rich mining company to lay down the big bucks. It will not be quick. Question being what is enough as a true "Proof of Principle". I would say they must get the production equipment as installed in AZ rigged around enough to show real production and allow a judgement of real Gold recovery potential. Again, lots more money than they have or will have.

Extreme poorly run project, just not enough real hands on guys. Need a real kick arse project manager in charge. Plus this general idea that the dudes at the top continue to skim real dollar paychecks in a project that is never cash rich shows a form of escape from reality. Bad overall focus, they want golf and the easy good living more than Gold. Shareholders come a very bad fourth, don't even rate a second position.

The general idea of some of the folks have in the past or are still being involved with questionable exercises does not give one much comfort. This is not anyway to run a railroad. Even if that railroad goes by a slag pile with lots of Gold.

Maybe a big risk for a stock like this if the overall market tanks in a hardy way too. Time is not on their side, they do nothing quick. You must play with the question is the present SP cheap or not??? In a bad market I can see it much futher down. They need quick progress, not something they have ever been able to achieve. Same olde game don't cut it. Games with no predictable endings are tough sledding, maybe you just watch, hold your money and attempt to time it. About my interest at this point. So far they ain't showing me much, same game of only we have the right to know anything, our buddies come first.

[EasyBet]

I'm pretty sure I know where you are coming from and certainly don't expect a glowing report. If the fraud squad is right then this is one of the most prolific and successful group of scammers to ever escape prosecution in the history of mining.

Even in light of the knowledge of the background of the principals, there are very credible insiders and professionals with no connection to the past who believe the proposition and the scientists who are inventing and proving up the process.

If that can't be done wherein the former principles really have no input into the development of the process does it prove that the intentions of all involved are false?

I don't think so. I think that the scientists, engineers and professionals who are now in charge are honorable folks and believe in the process they are developing.

Additionally, I find it odd that LUXOR would put up another $4 million to move the project to it's conclusion without some believe that the process will work as it is scaled up.

Nevertheless, there is a lot of room for skepticism but I think now days it is more from the fear that the final process won't work for some reason rather than the credibility of the founders and the geologists findings and reports in the past.

A more interesting study at this point in time is to learn who exactly owns all the stock in this company. I think there are two original stockholders who own over 40 million shares of the company and were recently disclosed as insiders but I'm not sure. This could explain why Luxor and other recent large investors have put up so much money to keep it going.

In any event the accountants have now put the resource value of the slag pile on the books so they must think the extractions process has been proven up enough to be able to do so. Probably a good idea to check this out. I think that is why the pps moved to where it is today to reflect the value on the books.

It is obvious that the fraud squad can dig up a lot of dirt from the past on some of the folks associated with the project but I am more interested in learning about the people running the show today.

I am looking forward to the exposure of any real proven findings. Guilt by association or unfounded inferences won't scare anyone away from this deal. There just aren't that many little guys in this. The big money in this have put up a huge firewall of credibility in recent years. They do have something to protect. Especially the guys who have 40 million shares at .03 if that is the case.

Good luck in unveiling the truth if it isn't already on the table.

[SevenTenEleven]

SRCH - Tough one to figure out. No promotions that I know of and no demotions either.

Stock has moved strongly and has pulled back a number of times.

Has potential to get back up to $2, as long as dilution or shorting isn't impacting demand.

[lucky, mydog]

you probably won't like it.

[EasyBet]

I will be interested in hearing your opinion.

[gitreal]

Just for the record, Arrakis, Inc. and Arakis Energy are apparently two different companies, but both have links to SRCH. Weird coincidence?

[lucky, mydog]

wow!even more to look at.

[lucky, mydog]

interesting information.

[lucky, mydog]

thanks easy, you have given me some nice information to look at.

[gitreal]

SRCH's roots run deep....... Dr. Charles Ager is paid $15K a month by SRCH for consulting fees through his company Nanominerals. Is this the kind of consultant that SRCH's investors would like their money to be spent on?

Charles Ager
Contestees' main expert witness was Dr. Charles Ager. Dr. Ager's credibility is questionable because of his actions relating to the so-called Delgratia salting scam, his evasiveness and lack of truthfulness during the hearing, and his bias in this proceeding. Much of the evidence regarding Dr. Ager's involvement in the Delgratia debacle resulted from the investigation of Special Agent August, a law enforcement officer for the BLM.

this quote is from: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PASS MINERALS INC.,
KIMINCO INC.,
PILOT PLANT INC.,
K. IAN MATHESON
MAY 8,2003
DECISION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE
JUDGE HARVEY C. SWEITZER

Also, it appears that Arakis has roots that run deep too. Check out this link between Arakis and Delgratia - both companies apparently owned by the same entity at the time that Ager, Matheson and Gunnison were being grilled by the BLM:

http://securities.stanford.edu/1004/DELGF97/001.html

Interesting reading - many familiar names. Why is this relevant to SRCH today? A company founded by scammers, with continued links to scammers, and with no technical reports to back up their "gold recovery process" is..... wait for it...likely a scam. This may not matter to the short investors, but you long-term guys - think about it.

[gitreal]

I know you have been a long-time supporter, and have made money on SRCH. But a couple points that are very relevant to an understanding of SRCH.....

It is Bob Gunnison, not Gunderson, who was involved with Verde, along with Ian Matheson who started the SRCH scam. Both of these fine gentlemen are now involved in another scam, a fake smelting company based in Henderson and with a "process" facility in Phoenix. Gunnison, Matheson and Ager were all made to look like fools by the BLM in that Pass Minerals case, although they all claimed to be "victims". Too bad none of them went to jail for their roles in that fiasco. Now they are peddling a process to create gold from fly ash (what you get when you burn coal).

And, again you imply that the past is not relevant! Of course it is relevant! Why wouldn't it be? And Ager is not out of the scene as you suggest - the elder Ager is a $15K/month consultant to SRCH which the SEC should look at closer. The younger Ager is VP of SRCH, and pulls down over $120K/year plus stock options.

As for the technical stuff, none of it is credible since SRCH has never, not once, released a technical report signed and certified by the authors. Arrakis and Mountain States may or may not be complicit in SRCH's charade, but how can one judge the merits of their technical reports without having the chance to see them?

Since you have been familiar with the SRCH operations for so long, have you ever seen an original, signed report by one of SRCH's so-called consultants?

[EasyBet]

Hey there, I am not sure what you mean by fun. I have been involved with this project from 2002. Long before I knew anything about penny stocks let alone gold stocks.

Most of my investment came in 2008 as a result of the sale from Verde River Iron Company to SRCH a few years earlier. The majority owner of Verde River (now deceased) was a business partner of mine in other businesses. He had been involved in the project from the late 1980's.

He was responsible along with his partner in Verde for bringing in Bob Gunderson who developed the first "chemical separation process" in a pilot plant in Phoenix. The process actually worked in the lab and formed the basis for the Ager and friends to raise the money through SRCH to expand the concept. That expansion ultimately didn't work. Ager and friends resigned from management and a new team took on the task of finding a way to get the gold out of the slag.

If you go back to the filings over the years you will find lots of material on the progress and lack of progress in developing the process.

At this point in time the current process actually produces gold from slag in relatively small quantities utilizing the application of an autoclave. The company has purchased a large autoclave to ramp up a pilot production program over the next few months.

The consultant who is running this phase of the program is supposed to be a world rebound autoclave expert who apparently believes that when perfected the system will become a commercially viable operation.

There are of course many who just don't believe that this is a viable project and cite numerous reasons why including it's connection with individuals with past failures and technical difficulties including the inability to test assay using fire assay techniques.

Even in the face of this reality, major institutional investors continue to support the company with millions of real dollars to continue the work of proving the process works and creating a bankable feasibility study.

How long this phase of the program will take is unknown. Years ago, prior to the first failure, the company would file elaborate documentation and projections far in advance of flipping the switch to see if anything worked. They don't do that any more for obvious reasons.

I guess the way to look at this is that we find SRCH is in the final stage of proof of process of an experimental process to separate metal (primarily gold) from iron slag.

In my opinion, this transcends any opinion about whether or not some of the early players involved in the management of the company may have been involved in questionable activities or whether or not some technical analysis can be applied or not. None of these folks are now directly involved in management and the jury is out as far as opinions about technical analysis.

The process that is now being developed is either going to work or it's not. The cash is available to make it work or not and a team of experts has been assembled who have already created gold from slag in small quantities utilizing the autoclave system and believe they can scale it up to a commercially viable outcome.

With all this in mind, I maintain an investment here and hope for the best.

[lucky, mydog]

hey easybet, how's it going? what's going on with this here srch thing. are we gonna have fun here or what?

[gitreal]

And, any company must release any material or significant data that may have an effect on the value of the company sooner or later.

Frankly, I believe they have done a pretty good job.

Sooner or later? How about never? In seven years of running this charade, SRCH has not once issued any of their "consultant" reports. Worked pretty well for them, I must admit. It has been a money-making machine for their BOD and a few savvy short investors, without ever producing an ounce of gold. You're right, they are doing a pretty good job - of running a scam!

[SevenTenEleven]

SRCH - Searchlight Minerals Corp. Completes $4.05 Million Private Placement of Common Stock With Luxor Capital Group, LP

Searchlight Mine (OTCBB:SRCH)

Today : Friday 8 June 2012


Searchlight Minerals Corp. (OTCBB: SRCH) ("Searchlight" or the "Company") today announced the completion of an equity financing with Luxor Capital Group, LP ("Luxor") that generated gross proceeds of approximately $4,050,000 to the Company. Searchlight also announced the appointment of John Mack as an Independent Director and the resignation of J.C. McFarland from its Board of Directors.
Financing Agreement

On June 7, 2012, the Company completed the sale to Luxor of 4,500,000 common shares at a price of $0.90 per share, resulting in aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $4,050,000. This purchase brings Luxor's beneficial ownership to approximately 17.48%.

In conjunction with the financing, the Company granted a waiver to allow Luxor to increase its beneficial ownership from 14.8% to 17.5% without triggering the Company's Shareholder Rights Plan. However, in accordance with a Voting Rights Agreement between Luxor and the Company, Luxor's voting rights will be limited to no more than 15% of the number of Searchlight common shares outstanding. If Luxor should at any point in time own over 15% of the actual number of common shares outstanding, it will issue to Searchlight a proxy to vote that portion of Luxor's shares that exceed 15% equity ownership in the Company.

"We are pleased to announce that Luxor Capital Group, LP has elected to invest an additional $4.05 million of equity capital into the Company," stated Martin Oring, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Searchlight Minerals Corp. "Along with the valuable advice I receive from Luxor, this additional investment further strengthens our financial and strategic relationship with our largest shareholder. The additional capital will assure that we have the necessary financial resources to achieve critical late-stage milestones involving the extraction of gold from our 20 million-ton slag project in Clarkdale, Arizona."

For further details on the financing, refer to the Company's Form 8-K to be filed in the coming days with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

Changes to Board of Directors

On June 7, 2012, John Mack joined the Company's Board of Directors as an Independent Director.

John E. Mack has over 35 years of international banking and financial business management experience. From November 2002 through September 2005, Mr. Mack served as Senior Managing Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Shinsei Bank, Limited in Tokyo, Japan. Prior to joining Shinsei Bank and for more than twenty-five years Mr. Mack served in senior management positions at Bank of America and its predecessor companies, including twelve years as Corporate Treasurer of NationsBank Corporation and NCNB Corporation. Mr. Mack is a member of the Board of Directors of Flowers National Bank, Incapital Holdings LLC, Medley Capital Corporation, and Residential Capital, LLC, and is Vice-Chairman and a director of Islandsbanki hf located in Reykjavik, Iceland. Mr. Mack holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and received his bachelor's degree in economics from Davidson College.

On June 7, 2012, J.C. McFarland resigned from the Company's Board of Directors to pursue other business and personal interests. There were no disagreements or conflicts between Mr. McFarland and the Company or its Board of Directors.

"We are delighted to welcome John Mack as a new Independent Director and believe that his extensive business and financial experience will serve the Company and its shareholders well as we continue our efforts to prove the commercial feasibility of our Clarkdale Slag Project," noted Oring. "On behalf of Searchlight's management and Board of Directors, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to J.C. McFarland for his service as an Independent Director during the past two years, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors."

About Searchlight Minerals Corp.

Searchlight Minerals Corp. is an exploration stage company engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties and slag reprocessing projects. The Company holds interests in two mineral projects: (i) the Clarkdale Slag Project, located in Clarkdale, Arizona, which is a reclamation project to recover precious and base metals from the reprocessing of slag produced from the smelting of copper ore mined at the United Verde Copper Mine in Jerome, Arizona; and (ii) the Searchlight Gold Project, which involves exploration for precious metals on mining claims near Searchlight, Nevada. The Clarkdale Slag Project is the more advanced of two ongoing projects that the Company is pursuing. The Searchlight Gold Project is an early-stage gold exploration endeavor on 3,200 acres located approximately 50 miles south of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Searchlight Minerals Corp. is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada, and its common stock is listed on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "SRCH." Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.searchlightminerals.com and in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Forward-Looking Statements

This Press Release may contain, in addition to historical information, forward-looking statements. Statements in this Press Release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's periodic filings with the Commission. When used in this Press Release in discussing the recent developments on the Project, including, without limitation, the resolution of certain issues relating to the operation of the production module, the words such as "believe," "could," "may," "expect" and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include, but are not restricted to technical issues on the Project that may affect the production module and its primary process components, challenges in moving from pilot plant scale to production scale, the risk that actual recoveries of base and precious metals or other minerals re-processed from the slag material at the Clarkdale site will not be economically feasible, uncertainty of estimates of mineralized material, operational risk, the Company's limited operating history, uncertainties about the availability of additional financing, geological or mechanical difficulties affecting the Company's planned mineral recovery programs, the risk that actual capital costs, operating costs and economic returns may differ significantly from the Company's estimates and uncertainty whether the results from the Company's feasibility studies are not sufficiently positive for the Company to proceed with the construction of its processing facility, operational risk, the impact of governmental and environmental regulation, financial risk, currency risk volatility in the prices of precious metals and other statements that are not historical facts as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's periodic filings with securities regulators in the United States. Consequently, risk factors including, but not limited to the aforementioned, may result in significant delays to the projected or anticipated production target dates.

Contact Information:



RJ Falkner & Company, Inc.

Investor Relations Counsel

[phone]

[drew08]

SEC filing...
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1084226/000114420412031111/xslF345X03/v314145_4.xml

[drew08]

Yes because the CEO buying a significant number of shares in his own company on Monday is a bearish sign... *sarcasm*

[kak3678]

So where is this stock headed today...south?????

[EasyBet]

SRCH: Searchlight Mineral Company 10Q

http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=52436793

[EasyBet]

What is significant? The value of the gold and other metals in the slag pile is now recolonized on the books. The reason is because the consultants have actually produced gold utilizing the developed process. If that were not the case the accountants would not let them include the value on the books.

You don't not want to accept the explanation the company provides on the inability to use Fire Assay as a method to determine the quantity of gold in solution or otherwise and that is your right. Nevertheless, more than one geological engineering firm has validated the problem and have used other methods to assay the metallic content of the slag in replicable tests.

If you are not satisfied, so be it. I hope it's not to much of struggle. You need to know that the company cannot release material data to one shareholder or individual without releasing it to all shareholders at the same time. And, any company must release any material or significant data that may have an effect on the value of the company sooner or later.

Frankly, I believe they have done a pretty good job.

The next step is to validate the commercial scale up of the process, preparation of the bankable feasibility study and raising the capital to build a prototype and then a full scale operating plant if management chooses not to sell the company first.

Because there is a major New York hedge fund and several wealthy individuals invested in the company, I doubt there will ever be any problem raising the capital to proceed even if the slag has never been subjected to "fire assay".

[bipro]

Well, Easybet,

I'm 65 years old and I refuse to live my remaining years in fear of anything or anyone. What will be will be.

In reviewing the 10Q released today:

I have a few questions:

What are the results of fire assay on the heads (slag)?

What are the results of fire assay on the solution (PLS)? And, of course, what is the solution volume:heads ratio?

What are the results of fire assay on the tails?

I have previously emailed SRCH with my questions but have not received any response. If they failed to get my previous email but see it posted here, Will they please answer these questions?

These questions need to be answered even if Searchlight specialists don't believe in fire assay.

[lmcat]

$20 billion worth of gold in the slag pile

And that $20Billion worth of gold is PROVEN - how?

Is there a bankable Feasibility Report? Proven assay results that can be verified and not some report by some unknown foreign entity.

[EasyBet]

To tell you the truth I am afraid of nuts and kooks and you should be to. I guess you just haven't had enough personal attacks to be wary of those who would like to tear your head off because of what you have to say.

One of the games played around here is to expose and discredit. You expose your identity and you will be exposing yourself and your family and the consequences could be unpleasant.

You need to realize that there are people world wide that have a vested interest in their positions and can and will stop at nothing to make sure they get what they want. These folks don't play by the same rules that you an I live by.

Therefore anonymity is a good thing when the conversation becomes controversial and derisive.

[EasyBet]

There are many different kinds of banks. I was primarily referring to investment banks.

An EIR is the best way to handle adverse views if there is a chance there will be any. The engineers will provide for the necessary mitigation measures if they are needed and therefore head off any public outcry and form the basis for a legal defense if that is needed.

I'm guessing that there won't be any measurable runoff that can pollute the river or the groundwater and that the only thing you can really do is monitor the conditions during the reclamation process and correct deficiencies along the way.

When you have $20 billion worth of gold in the slag pile, money is not an issue. Over time that is what it's worth.

[gitreal]

I am aware of the deal with the City to use 60 acres of the Searchlight property for wastewater treatment plant effluent discharge. It is covered under the City's APP and in fact, there is currently a modification to the the City's APP that is under review (not sure if it is related to the Searchlight property). Searchlight is probably pretty good at playing the responsible corporate citizen with the local politicians.

However, there is no way to tag Searchlight's proposed process onto the City's APP. Completely different wastestream, different responsible party, etc. The only advantage of having a nearby APP already in place, is that Searchlight's consultant could utilize some of the hydrological data, monitoring wells, etc. as part of their application.

As for the Environmental Impact Report (Statement?), not sure why Searchlight would ever have to go that route, unless they are planning to discharge into the river, or are operating on Federal or State lands. The permit that will be critical for them is the APP. I can't imagine it taking less than a year, and could take multiple years. If they do it right, they can get their APP, but only with lots of time & money, and no production until they get it.

You mentioned banks or investors financing Searchlight, I cannot imagine a mainstream bank getting involved. They worry about financing a shopping mall with a dry cleaner, do you think they'd have anything to do with a 20 million ton pile of mining waste (slag)? Not a chance.

[bipro]

I don't know why anyone would pay a lick of attention to anyone who insists on remaining anonymous. What are you afraid of?

[EasyBet]

There isn't anyone around here who doesn't understand the speculative nature of this investment. My question is, Where were you guys 4 years ago when this thing cranked up and tons of money was sunk into it by some very large institutions? Even then, they were betting on the first attempt at developing a successful process would, well, succeed. but it failed. Why the devil would they dump lots more money into it if they didn't think it could ultimately be successful?

Do you think they didn't have independent engineers and professional swarming all over this place to try and figure out what happened?

They ended up firing the CEO and putting the old guard out to pasture as best they could.

The rest is history. Regardless of your bias and rigid notion that fire assay is the only way to prove the existence of gold, I would suggest that you visit a few of the other slag piles in the neighborhood and test your theory. Scoop some up and get it tested.

Additionally, we are not only talking about liberating gold from the slag. Silver, copper, zinc, silicon and iron are derivative and are to separated in solution and reconstituted to a solid. It appears from the presentation that this continues to be part of the process under development.

Have a nice weekend.

By the way, you may consider not using a photo of yourself in anonymous message boards, if that in fact what you have done here. This is no place to expose your identity in any way whatsoever.

[EasyBet]

If I remember correctly SRCH made a deal with the City to use some of the the excess property, about 200 acres I think for the discharge of effluent of some type from the plant operation. You can look into that while you are researching the conditions imposed by the Use Permit. I would be surprised if compliance with Arizona Water Quality conditions were left out of the process.

Whatever the conditions imposed may be, one thing for sure is that no run off will be permitted into the Verde River. Most states have laws similar to California where agencies must respond to applications, hold hearings regarding the environmental impact of a project, etc. all within specific time frames. If I was applying for a General Plan Amendment or Rezone it might take 6 months to a year for an Environmental Impact Report to be completed. My guess is the EIR for this case will take about 90 days to complete given it is a single purpose report. I will be prepared by outside independent engineers who are commissioned by the owner and approved by Water Quality. The hearing process should take about 3 to 6 months if they do it right.

It will almost impossible to refuse the permit if the engineered remediation and mitigation measures are scientifically proven and sound as you well know must be the case or it goes no where. This is not a pioneering effort as these measures have been employed world wide for many years.

By the time all this formality is completed there is likely to be a number of big name suitors who will want to buy the company. Frankly, I think they have already been coming around. Actually, there is one I know of that has a huge commercial Autoclave operations nearby that is now idle and needs some work. You think these guys aren't watching what's going on here?

After reading the presentation very carefully we can now understand the why the timing of events is running slower than we would like. It has everything to do with the burn rate of the cash at hand and the expectation that the outstanding warrants getting ready to expire will be exercised and provide a large cash infusion that will carry the company through the next stages of development to the final conclusion that remains the ultimate proof of a continuous production run in a much larger autoclave than has been used in the past. And the development of a comprehensive bankable feasibility analysis.

So, the pace of development has always been and will continue to be the availability of the cash to continue to do the job and that seems to be well taken care of by management. Now that management has significantly increased it's share of company stock I would expect that things might move along a little faster in the future.

By the way, any environmental issues must be covered in the bankable feasibility study or no bank or investor would stick one more dime in this thing. In fact the guys who will exercising their options at $1.75 plus are going to want to be pretty sure they are getting what they pay for and because of this you can expect the stock to shoot well past $1.75 one of these days.

[bipro]

Yes, wouldn't it be nice to have the power to create market swings by merely blogging.

You Longs should heed gitreal's advice. I have personal experience in acquiring permits for small mining in the past couple of years. It's no easy task. And, his advice as to the amount of gold in the slag: Gold is valuable because it is scarce. Think about it, if there were commercial quantities of gold in that slag, then shouldn't we examine all the other slag dumps in the southwest. And, don't you think that they have all been examined many times thru the decades. The issue with SRCH is simple. They have claimed to discovered gold where nobody else could because of supposedly "new analytical methods" that were not available in the past. Their analytical methods do not conform to industry accepted methods. The methods they are using have been around for several decades and are known to be prone to report false positives. They claim that the gold is in there but it will not report to a fire assay. This is totally FALSE! The fire assay will extract the precious metals from any material. They have claimed to have dissolved the gold into solution but are having difficulty separating it from the solution. This could be easily accomplished in the lab. At the very least, a quantity of the solution could be evaporated and the residue assayed. Quote from their recent report: Recently commenced ion exchange resin tests confirm the probable 0.2-0.6 opt gold head grade by extracting gold beads from loaded resin and back calculating probable head ore grade. If this is accurate then it could be verified with simple fire assay. I emailed SRCH with questions about the details of their analytical methods but have not received a response. I do not believe that any new technology has been developed that can produce otherwise hidden gold from that slag at Clarkdale or anywhere else. It is a given, there is a little bit of gold in the slag (probably 0.01 opt or less), but nowhere near enough to be extracted at a profit.

[gitreal]

I think I will start following you guys around and take advantage of the swing in prices you create just by being there with your comments.

You're quite welcome! But I think you give "us guys" way too much credit - I don't think that plummet in prices after the Annual Meeting had anything to with comments on this board, and everything to do with more delays in production, more endless testing by mysterious consultants, and impatience by stockholders. Or maybe I am missing something else that caused that big drop - any ideas out there?

[gitreal]

Two out of three - I am a little grumpy, and probably foolish for wasting my time on this chatboard. I am not a shorter, but there is no way to prove that.

I find it interesting that you think my views are "extreme". I think people that are convinced that there are 10 million ounces of gold sitting there in an old slag pile fit that description.

Regardless, you mention looking at FACTS, and trying to ignore the BS. I have done my best to present facts based on my experience and training. I have kept my recent discussions to the environmental issues that Searchlight will be faced with, should they ever reach a production stage. There is nothing I have said that isn't backed up by ADEQ guidelines and statute, which I can provide links to. I haven't bothered to post links so far, because I don't think anybody wants to take the time to do some real due diligence.

If this is BS, please point out why you think it is BS. Or do you think it is irrelevant to consider environmental permitting issues? That's fine, but please justify why you think that's the case and why Searchlight will have no environmental hurdles to overcome.

You say you are signing off until the next news release, so maybe one of the other Searchlight pumpers can respond to the above.....

[drew08]

Yeah, in fact it would not surprise me if these negative comments are all coming from one grumpy, foolish, shorter, who placed the wrong bet on a winning company. This is the internet after all, and in my 20 years of experience on the web, I have seen far more deceptive acts, as I'm sure you have.

You just have to take it for what it is: negative voices, positive voices, and neutral voices. You can't weigh an argument from either side based on perception of the number of people backing it. For one, the people with the more extreme views tend to be more outspoken, and for two, there is no way of knowing how many unique identities actually exist in the argument. So what I tend to do is sift through arguments from both sides for FACTS and try my best to ignore the BS.

That being said, when it comes to SRCH, yes there are a few questions that need to be answered. Yes, there is still risk that it won't be a commercially viable process, or one as good as we hope. Yes, they have made huge progress recently and are almost at the stage of producing some real gold. Anything beyond that is just BS, and in reality we won't know their progress until the next news release. So until then, I'm going to ignore these boards and hold long.

Signing off until the next news release. Good luck to all who are holding long and if the shorters keep driving the price down, hell, I'll grab some more shares for the long haul.

[gitreal]

EasyBet - nothing personal, not really trying to discredit you, except to point out that everybody is an expert in something, and mine happens to be geology and environmental permitting. Sounds like you have been pretty involved in the Searchlight thing, even to the point of attending some public meetings.

I am very familiar with the ADEQ APP process, having been involved with trying to acquire the permit on behalf of some small miners. It is not set up to be friendly for small miners, and they have to play by the same rules that the "big guys" like Freeport, ASARCO, etc. play by.

As for the City being the "lead agency", that might be true for the Conditional Use Permit, but when it comes to environmental concerns, the City will be taking a back seat to ADEQ and their requirements. ADEQ will be a factor in Searchlight's future, should they ever get to the point of actually starting production. They will not be able to discharge the waste stream from their process without significant engineering, testing, and permitting.

Do you have access to the Conditional Use Permit? Just wondering how long it is good for? Maybe I'll request a copy - if so, I'll post the relevant parts of it.

[EasyBet]

Well, what do you know, the fraud squad shows up and the stock bottoms and jumps 20%.

I think I will start following you guys around and take advantage of the swing in prices you create just by being there with your comments.

I wonder if this activity is anything like the card counters who have been banned from casinos everywhere because of their secrete and clandestine manipulation of information?

I think that everyone knows that when outcomes become predictable it is easy to spot causes and that connection is exactly what the real fraud busters are after. You know, the SEC and Dept. of Justice, folks like that.

I am interested in preserving IHUB in it's present form without interference from regulatory authority. It is probably a good idea for all contributors to these boards to contemplate how their actions may jeopardize this free and open forum by drawing unwanted attention.

[EasyBet]

If and when experts need to be hired to solve problems if there are any, I am sure that has been taken into consideration. If you take a look at the Conditional Use Permits. I am sure you will find that the City of Clarkdale has noted every agency that will need to be concerned about any environmental issue and their jurisdiction. After all the City is the lead permitting agency and must conform to all local, state and federal laws in the permitting process.

Therefor, instead of working so hard to make people wrong in the attempt to discredit them, you might consider digging up the facts that are readily available to you by contacting the City and reporting your finding here.

I attended the city counsel meetings where the permits were granted but that was so long ago that my memory about the details won't do in contravention to your claims so it's better that you do your homework and bring forth the real facts concerning the City's requirements.

That should clear up the environmental questions you might have and relieve us all of the need to deal with a meaningless barrier that seems to reside in your experience somewhere.

[EasyBet]

Read the annual meeting minutes to learn when the feasibility report will be prepared. It is after the confirmation of a large scale autoclave production run. The large autoclave has been purchased and will soon be installed to begin the production run according to the annual meeting presentation.

This is no longer about the feasibility of the process producing gold, that has been proven, it's about the feasibility of creating a commercially feasible continuous production run that can be scaled up to a 2000 ton per day operation.

If you look around you will find autoclave systems in use that fill huge buildings and produce a lot of metals. The use of these systems is not a pioneering effort. The application must be considered experimental until a commercially feasible run has been proven. The better question is just how long it will take to reach this conclusion.

You guys think this has been going on for about 5 years. My first introduction to the slag pile was in 2002 and my partners was in 1987 I think. Up until recently it was never technologically feasible to isolate the metal from the slag. After many years of experimentation and the contribution of lots of capital the last stages of development of a process to isolate metals seem to be at hand.

If that is the case, SRCH will make a few people very rich.

[gitreal]

The road is a condition imposed by the City of Clydesdale and must be completed prior to commencement of operations. The condition was imposed before SRCH was involved in the project.

I might just have to make a call and see if this is for real or not. It may be a condition of their "Conditional Use Permit" but for Searchlight to raise money for something like this so far in advance of having a process that can actually produce gold is a bit premature, isn't it? Either way, I will be happy to report back what I hear.

You can be concerned all you want about disturbing the slag but the State of Arizona EPA and the City of Clarkdale as well as the Water Quality Control Board have no concerns.

You have no idea what you're talking about. The slag is grandfathered until someone disturbs it. At that point, ADEQ (not "State of Arizona EPA") will become very interested, I guarantee you. The City of Clarkdale has little jurisdiction on the slag - they might have some concerns if the stormwater runoff enters their stormwater system, but I doubt they would say anything. The Water Quality Control Board? You must be from California because that's what controls a lot of environmental issues out there. Do you mean the Arizona Department of Water Resources? If so, they don't care about the slag either.

The slag is a solid and will be transported to a processing plant either on site or offsite.

True enough, slag is a solid. It doesn't mean it is forever unregulated. When you disturb it and start processing it (either on-site or off-site), it is no longer grandfathered. You will then have to prove to ADEQ that the slag pile, stockpiles, process area, and discharged tailings are all inert. Each area within their process is considered a potential "discharging facility" and you will have to justify why each one is or isn't a concern. This will be done through the ADEQ Aquifer Protection Permit process which as I have said time and time again on this board, is a multi-year process and very expensive. Have they started that process??? They won't be able to go into production until they have at least filed a Determination of Applicability and received the all-clear (which they won't).

Additionally, it rains on that pile every year and there doesn't seem to be an toxic runoff caused by precipitation.

How in the heck would you know that? Has Searchlight done any testing or monitoring of the storm water quality that runs off that slag pile and released those results to you? Doubtful they have done any testing of storm water running off that slag, which means they are probably in violation of storm water rules.

Even if there were, it would easily controlled.

Yes, it can be done with berms and retention areas to keep all storm water on-site, you are right. But, then the retained storm water could be considered a "discharging facility" - see above! Switch one problem for another.

It's been done thousands of times before all over the world.

You're right, but is it being done, or are there plans for it to be done?

EasyBet, maybe you should stick to the short game which you are good at, and leave the discussions of environmental issues to the experts.

[lmcat]

The road is a condition imposed by the City of Clydesdale

Fact is the city is Clarksdale!

http://repository.azgs.az.gov/sites/default/files/dlio/files/nid1194/bull_178_united_verde_open_pit_ocr.pdf

And 250 tons a day is about 2 CAT 777G truckloads!

Have they released a Feasibility Study?

[EasyBet]

I can't tell you how happy I am that you boys are coming around SRCH more often to talk about Searchlight. And as long as the subject remains Searchlight then I have no objection.

I know you don't realize this but as long as I have witnessed your rants and raves about what you consider scams and the details you provide as proof is no less than a blueprint then if you wrote a book on the subject. Over the past year we have seen real scams take a lot of money from the unwitting investor following the blueprint offered by the scam busters on these boards. I do hope this knowledge gives some pause in as much as the result is the opposite of what is professed.

Maybe the real reason the share price is where it is, is because there are only 131,000,000 outstanding and 200,000,000 authorized. Unlike most OTC miners who don't hesitate to run 500k to 5 billion shares and dilute as much as they can as fast as they can.

By the way the Preferred can serve two functions. It can raise the money to build the operating plant if it becomes feasible and management has the guts to do it, and can be used to fend off a hostile takeover. Either way it's not a burden to the common shareholders because it's trading dollars for hard assets either to create production or provide the financing for a buy out company to create production.

There is a ubiquitous complaint about how much start up management earns to get a company started and keep it running. I think that usually comes from folks who never did make much money. Folks who never had to go begging for financing. In the real world you get paid what you are worth. Even if you win some and lose some.

[EasyBet]

So, you think that selling stock at market with a 15% discount is toxic? Looks like a sale at market to me not a convertible note as you suggest. In as much as the company raised many millions to finance operations from one investor is quite remarkable considering the price was pre established at the 10 day average when the option is exercised.

To my knowledge there has never been one toxic convertible note sold by this company. All bulk sales of stock have been discounted within commercially reasonable guidelines and fully disclosed before they were consummated.

The only thing anyone could ask is to please get your facts straight.

The road is a condition imposed by the City of Clydesdale and must be completed prior to commencement of operations. The condition was imposed before SRCH was involved in the project.

You can be concerned all you want about disturbing the slag but the State of Arizona EPA and the City of Clarkdale as well as the Water Quality Control Board have no concerns. The slag is a solid and will be transported to a processing plant either on site or offsite. Additionally, it rains on that pile every year and there doesn't seem to be an toxic runoff caused by precipitation. Even if there were, it would easily controlled. It's been done thousands of times before all over the world.

The 250 ton per day production module failed and that is why the POX autoclave system has been employed that has been thoroughly explained in detail by the company.

Take it or Leave it as you will.

If you comments have the effect of further lowering the price of the stock you are doing us all a big favor as we are able to buy more cheaper.

Thanks

[rbtree]

No doubt! But there are few OTC wannabe miners that have traded the $ volume and at the high shares prices as have El Cap and this one.

[CosmicRambler]

You know Imcat, everything you say is exactly true but the stock never reacted to it in a negative manner before. In fact it went up as if dilution did not matter.

Today it looked like to me the stock broke down completely. The question being why??? Plenty of potential reasons I could think of. Fundamentals were never together in any manner.

Somehow I'm thinking it will get tied back to that whole idea of having Preferred shares. Just a very fancy dilution vehicle in all probability but maybe more upsetting is the way sometimes they try to tie real property or as a means of controlling who gets what if it should go belly up.

What did them boys say at that AM, maybe to the wrong folks??? Can't say I knew what was coming but I was definitely getting bad vibes for a spell before.

[lmcat]

There are at least half a dozen companies including SRCH that I have researched that passed the 5 year mark and are still paying their officers by selling toxic convertible notes.


In 2008, we designed and built a production module which was anticipated to process between 100 and 250 tons of slag material per day.

We need to build an Industrial Collector Road. The purpose of the road is to provide us with the capability to enhance the flow of industrial traffic to and from the Clarkdale Slag Project. We estimate that the initial cost of construction of the road will be approximately $3,500,000 and that the cost of the additional enhancements will be approximately $1,200,000. We will be required to fund the costs of this construction.

Historically, we have financed our operations primarily through the sale of common stock and other convertible equity securities.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company’s stockholders’ equity activity consisted of the following:

a) On December 15, 2011, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of common stock to Seaside at a price of $0.56092 per share under the Purchase Agreement for gross proceeds of $560,920. Total fees related to this issuance were $2,500.

b) On November 15, 2011, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of common stock to Seaside at a price of $0.67958 per share under the Purchase Agreement for gross proceeds of $679,575. Total fees related to this issuance were $2,500.

c) On October 15, 2011, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of common stock to Seaside at a price of $0.92803 per share under the Purchase Agreement for gross proceeds of $928,030. Total fees related to this issuance were $2,500.

d) On September 15, 2011, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of common stock to Seaside at a price of $0.619395 per share under the Purchase Agreement for gross proceeds of $619,395. Total fees related to this issuance were $2,500.

e) On April 15, 2011, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of common stock to Seaside at a price of $0.44846 per share under the Purchase Agreement for gross proceeds of $448,460. Total fees related to this issuance were $2,500.

f) On March 15, 2011, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of common stock to Seaside at a price of $0.47694 per share under the Purchase Agreement for gross proceeds of $476,935. Total fees related to this issuance were $2,500.

g) On February 15, 2011, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of common stock to Seaside at a price of $0.49198 per share under the Purchase Agreement for gross proceeds of $491,980. Total fees related to this issuance were $2,500.

h) On January 18, 2011, the Company issued 1,000,000 shares of common stock to Seaside at a price of $0.661895 per share under the Purchase Agreement for gross proceeds of $661,895. Total fees related to this issuance were $2,500.

Selling 1,000,000 shares every month - their own ATM machine!

My concerns with disturbing that slag pile is that it is directly above the Verde River. Storm water could wash toxic chemicals downhill into the river.

[EasyBet]

The analysis to paralysis subsequent to the annual meeting is amusing. We all know that anyone can slice, dice and slant data and information to draw totally opposite conclusions from the same information.

Seems to me that as far as the postings on this board are concerned, no one has been convinced of either position and it is likely that won't happen here one way or the other.

I have not been involved in a penny stock investment that I didn't love and hate at the same time. That is particularly true for mining stocks. Nevertheless this investment arena has allowed me to earn a substantial return on my investment. The fact is you win some and you lose some.

Furthermore, it is well recognized that about 95% of all penny stock investors loose money. So if anyone thinks they have a chance to make money here better learn the ropes. If you don't, then you are better off in CD's.

Like most speculative penny stocks, SRCH must first be considered a short term investment with the possibility of long term potential.

The way I look at penny stocks is I allocate funds for the possibility of a potential long term investment but play it like it like a day trader.

With this in mind, most of us should have been out at $2.00.

Unfortunately, most of us are wired to fall in love with the long term potential, thinking that the rocket will take off at any moment and we will be left in the dust if we don't hold the stock. Conversely, we don't know enough about price movements and what drives them to make a rational decision about when to buy and sell on the swings. Calling the bottom of a swing and buying more is just as important as calling the top and selling to secure a profit.

SRCH has a great story and great support and will most likely always make money for it's investors.

Try and get some more of this before it makes the turn.

Good Luck all!

[CosmicRambler]

Most real scams as Penny stocks probably do not have that long of working life. Least a life with any attenion or active big time play.

There are many examples of ones like bio-Techs raise many millions on an IPO and then running for years and years and years and never achieving anything. Lots of PR's and promises. But if you want to cure cancer or get World Peace it don't come easy. Many of the insiders do very well in some of those situations.

Which goes back to the point I said that you want companies with particular profiles and then be able to understand what they claim to want to do, the schedule for doing it and how you measure progress along the way. It takes more than wishes. Never stay aboard for long if the bus ain't moving.

SRCH was pretty lacking in those regards but that does not mean it is any form of scam. Lots of poorly run companies of all persuasions. Real good project managers are probably SOB's by need and without much humor but they know how to get a job done on time, budget and right. I ain't seeing that here.

Time to stand on the curb for a while and see what happens. I would wager a lot will depend on the state of the over all markets thru the summer. But I'm not expecting much SP movement until the fundamentals improve a lot. Got to be in a final construction type phase and ready to turn the Big Switch to RUN to get any real attention. Everything else is a promise.

[rbtree]

This long running con, scam or whatever it is, has been rivaled by El Capitan in its length and size.....in $ or what have you.